Category Archive: Beekeeping

So we don’t have many answers yet when it comes to CCD. We know several things it is not (cell phones, power towers, aliens…), and know a few things that may be a symptom or part of the cause (most notably IAPV and nosema). But at the end, the only thing that we really know …

The official word is that the scope of the beekeeping research on the Columbus (Ohio State) campus at the Rothenbuhler Bee Laboratory has been ‘reduced’ for the present. While the OSU Entomology administration recognizes the importance and contributions of the lab, restricted funding is a fact within university systems across the US.

Small hive beetles are another one of those pests imported into the US (discovered in 1998). While they can be a serious problem in the Southeastern US, making a fermenting mess of the comb in the hive, they have yet to cause serious problems for most here in Ohio. No one I’ve talked to has …

I had the opportunity last weekend to attend the North Central Queen Assembly held in Troy, Ohio. It was entitled ‘Selecting and Rearing Your Own Queens’, which did make me think the information was going to be rather introductory and basic and that I wouldn’t get all that much out of it. It’s the downside …

Still incredibly good weather for this month. There isn’t much left for the bees to work as the goldenrod has finished blooming and is going to seed, and just about everything else left is drying up. Strangely, the bees don’t seem to be too interested in robbing as I would expect in such a dearth. …

It’s hard to believe by looking outside that it’s well into Fall and bee season should basically be over. But the temperatures are still in the upper 60’s and into the 70’s with no chance of frost yet in the 10 day forecast. What a huge change from last year with it’s cool wet weather …

This month every beekeeping magazine and newsletter is filled with the news. The cause of CCD (Colony collapse disorder) has been found, or at least they think they have found it. Researches have found that hives with the Israeli Acute Paralysis (IAP) virus has a strong correlation to hives affected by CCD. Not a slam …

Over the past couple week the weather has been very hot an humid and generally very little wind. It’s been unpleasant to do just about anything as you break out in a heavy sweat doing anything more than sitting still in front of the fan. The bees thought so too and spent a great deal …

I suppose this should be something that is traditionally done around the near year, but everything seems to be running late. Poor weather and lack of time with my wife staring her new real estate office, my day job, and other things that came up during the spring and summer that kept me …